Integrated multichannel laser driver and photodetector receiver

ABSTRACT

An integrated circuit cast on a single die having a plurality of receivers in a receiver region, a plurality of transmitters in a transmitter region, and a spatial separation region having a plurality of n-type and p-type subregions disposed on the single die to separate the transmitter region from the receiver region. The pn-junctions between the n-type and p-type subregions are reverse-biased thereby reducing or eliminating coupling of noise and crosstalk between the transmitter and receiver is reduced.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Fiber-optic communication devices typically use a transmit channel and areceive channel to allow communications with many of today's computerand electronic systems. The use of integrated circuits has allowedcommunication devices to be manufactured in smaller and smaller modules.Generally speaking, integrated circuits are very susceptible toelectromagnetic noise and will not function properly if a large amountof noise is present near the integrated circuit. This is particularlynoticeable in an integrated circuit with a receive channel. As such,care must be taken to ensure noise will not interfere with a fiber-opticcommunication module having both a transmitter and a receiver(transceiver).

In the past, a manufacturer, in order to ensure proper operation,designed a transceiver with two separate integrated circuit chips in themodule. One integrated circuit was designed for the transmitter and oneintegrated circuit was designed for the receiver. Furthermore, eachintegrated circuit could be designed to have more than one transmitteror receiver on the chip, i.e., a multichannel device. Particularlyproblematic, however, was designing an integrated circuit with both atransmit channel and a receive channel on the same integrated circuit,i.e. a single die.

The common perception of the past was that a transmitter was too noisyto be included on the same integrated circuit as a noise-sensitivereceiver. Consequently, most transceiver modules are able to accomplishan acceptable level of operation with only a transmitter and a receiveron two physically separate integrated circuits. An example of such amultichannel device is described in detail in A Si Bipolar Laser DiodeDriver/Receiver Chip Set for 4-channel 5 Gb/s Parallel OpticalInterconnection, Nagahori et al., ISSCC, Gigabit Optical CommunicationsII Conference Journal, February 2001.

Furthermore, digital circuitry, such as clocked logic circuitry, wastypically omitted from receiver circuits because as stated abovereceiver circuits are very sensitive to noise. Therefore, standalonereceiver chips typically didn't have the functionality that digitalcircuitry offers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the invention is directed to an integrated circuit caston a single die having a plurality of receivers in a receiver region, aplurality of transmitters in a transmitter region, and a spatialseparation region having a plurality of alternating n-type semiconductorand p-type semiconductor subregions disposed on the single die toseparate the transmitter region from the receiver region. The n-type andp-type subregions are reverse biased by a voltage source or a groundsuch that the noise generated by components in the transmitter region isreduced or eliminated in the receiver region.

In another embodiment, voltage sources or grounds supplying respectivecomponents in the transmitter region are separate and distinct fromvoltage sources or grounds supplying components in the receiver region.Further, amplifying and buffering components in the transmitter regionhave a separate and distinct voltage source and ground from the outputdriving components in the transmitter region. Likewise, amplifyingcomponents in the receiver region have a separate and distinct voltagesource and ground from the output driving components in the receiverregion. Such isolated voltage sources and grounds further reduce theeffects of noise and crosstalk in an integrated circuit havingtransceiver capability.

Additionally, because extensive steps are taken to reduce noise andcrosstalk, digital features normally too noisy for use with sensitivereceiver circuits can now be used. This allows for additionalenhancements because the receiver circuitry can connect directly toon-chip digital circuitry without having to go off the integratedcircuit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of thisinvention will become more readily appreciated as the same become betterunderstood by reference to the following detailed description, whentaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an integrated circuit having a plurality oftransmitters and a plurality of receivers in accordance with anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a graphical depiction of the spatial separation region of theintegrated circuit of FIG. 1 in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a fiber-optic communication module thatincorporates the integrated circuit of FIG. 1 in accordance with anembodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a digital communication system thatincorporates the fiber-optic module of FIG. 3 in accordance with anembodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following discussion is presented to enable a person skilled in theart to make and use the invention. The general principles describedherein may be applied to embodiments and applications other than thosedetailed below without departing from the spirit and scope of thepresent invention. The present invention is not intended to be limitedto the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scopeconsistent with the principles and features disclosed or suggestedherein.

With reference to FIG. 1, a block diagram of an integrated circuit 100in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is presented. Theintegrated circuit 100 comprises a plurality of transmit channels 110,111 and 112 disposed in a transmit region 101 and a plurality of receivechannels 130, 131 and 132 disposed in a receive region 102. Both regions101 and 102 are disposed on a single die, i.e. only one microchip.Additionally, the integrated circuit also comprises a spatial separationregion 103, which is also disposed on the same die and physicallyseparates the transmit region 101 from the receive region 102. Thespatial separation region 103 is designed to significantly reduceelectromagnetic interference problems such as noise and crosstalk thatare generated from one region and have detrimental effects on the otherregion. The spatial separation region 103 is described in greater detailbelow with respect to FIG. 2. The arrangement of blocks in FIG. 1 is forillustrative purposes alone and does not necessarily reflect the actuallayout of the integrated circuit 100.

The transmit region 101 comprises a plurality of transmit channels 110,111, and 112 and a digital logic block 115. The digital logic block 115,which communicates with the transmit and receive channels via an 8-bitdigital bus 116, provides digital circuitry for the operation of theintegrated circuit 100 and will be described in greater detail below.The number of transmit channels may vary between 1 and N and in oneembodiment the number of transmit channels is four. For the ease ofillustration, only the “0” transmit channel 110 is shown in detail.However, the following discussion applies to each transmit channel 110,111, and 112.

A typical transmit channel 110 comprises two stages, an input stage 120and a drive stage 121. An input signal, generated off chip, enters thetransmit channel 110 at a pair of high-speed differential input pads122. The input stage 120 comprises analog circuitry for processing theinput signal so that it is suitable to be connected to the drive stage121. Such processing includes buffering the drive stage from a range ofsignal input amplitudes and rise/fall times to attain a cleaner signalfor driving. Additional processing may be performed but is not describedherein. Once the input signal is processed, the drive stage 121 drivesan off chip laser by converting the differential voltage input signalinto an electrical current that drives the laser. The laser is typicallyan industry-standard VCSEL (Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser) andreceives the VCSEL driver analog current output signal through a pair ofoutput pads 123

To further reduce noise and crosstalk in the integrated circuit 100, theinput stage 120 and the drive stage 121 are powered from two distinctvoltage sources and grounds. The input stage 120 of each transmitchannel is driven from a first off chip voltage source and ground thatis coupled to the integrated circuit 100 via VDD_(TA) 125 and GND_(TA)126. Likewise, the drive stage 121 of each transmit channel is drivenfrom a second off chip voltage source and ground that is coupled to theintegrated circuit 100 via VDD_(TB) 127 and GND_(TB) 128. Each voltagesource is typically 3.3 Volts nominal. Therefore, as can be seen in FIG.1, there are two separate power and ground pads and traces in thetransmit region 101 on each side of the block diagram.

Still referring to FIG. 1, the receive region 102 comprises a pluralityof receive channels 130, 131, and 132. The number of receive channelsmay also vary between 1 and N and in one embodiment the number ofreceive channels is four, which is equal to the number of transmitchannels. For the ease of illustration, again only the “0” receivechannel 130 is shown in greater detail, however, the followingdiscussion applies to each receive channel 130, 131, and 132.

A typical receive channel 130 also has two stages, a pre-amplifier stage140 and a post-amplifier/output stage 141. An input signal, generatedoff-chip by a photodiode or other similar device operable to convertoptical pulses into an electrical signal, enters the receive channel 130at anode/cathode input pads 142. The pre-amplifier stage 140 comprisesanalog circuitry for processing the input signal so that it is suitableto be coupled to the post-amplifier/output stage 141. Such processingincludes conversion of the photocurrent to a differential voltage andamplification to drive the post-amplifier/output stage 141. Additionalprocessing may be performed but is not described herein. Once the inputsignal is processed, the post-amplifier/output stage 141 further buffersthe signal to further clean up the signal for driving an externalelectrical load that is coupled to the integrated circuit 100 at adifferential pair of output pads 143.

Again, to further reduce noise and crosstalk in the integrated circuit100, the pre-amplifier stage 140 and a post-amplifier/output stage 141are powered from two distinct voltage sources and grounds which are alsodistinct from the pairs of transmit voltage sources and grounds asdescribed above. Thus, the pre-amplifier stage 140 of each receivechannel is driven from a third off-chip voltage source and ground thatare coupled to the integrated circuit 100 via VDD_(RA) 145 and GND_(RA)146. Likewise, the post-amplifier/output stage 141 of each receivechannel is driven from a fourth off-chip voltage source and ground thatare coupled to the integrated circuit 100 via VDD_(RB) 147 and GND_(RB)148. Therefore, as can be seen in FIG. 1, there are two separate powerand ground pads and traces in the receive region 101 on each side of theblock diagram. Thus, there are four distinct voltage sources used topower various components of the integrated circuit 100 in order toreduce the effects of noise and crosstalk.

An additional measure taken to reduce the effects of noise and crosstalkis placing conventional ground rings around each component, such assubstrate taps (guard rings) 150 around the drive stage 121 of thetransmit channels 110. Furthermore, conventional guard rings may also beplaced around each transmit and receive channel, such as guard ring 151around the Nth receive channel 132.

Yet another measure taken to reduce the effects of noise and crosstalkis the use of the spatial separation region 103. A top view of thespatial separation region 103 is shown with respect to FIG. 2 accordingto an embodiment of the invention The spatial separation region 103 isitself divided by a small center region 200. The center region 200comprises undoped substrate that serves as a barrier such that no powertraces cross. Above the center region 200 is a transmit side 201 of thespatial separation region and below the center region 200 is a receiveside 202 of the spatial separation region 103.

Each side 201 and 202 is characterized by a series of horizontal p-typeand n-type semiconductor regions 210. An n-type semiconductor region isan area of silicon that is highly doped (impurities added) such that theresistivity of this area is low and there are additional free negativecharge carriers. Likewise, a p-type semiconductor region is also an areaof silicon that is highly doped such that there are additional freepositive charge carriers. These regions 210 alternate from p-type ton-type throughout each side 201 and 202 of the spatial separation region103. A gap, or semiconductor region that is undoped, may or may not bepresent between each horizontal p-type and n-type semiconductor region210. Furthermore, the spatial separation region 103 is typically moreeffective if the two horizontal semiconductor regions 210 that areclosest to the center region 200, i.e., the first horizontal region onthe transmitter side 201 and the first horizontal region 210 on thereceiver side 202, are p-type semiconductor regions.

Additionally, each side 201 and 202 is further characterized by rails212 that comprise portions of one of the metal layers that form thesemiconductor chip. These rails 212, which run perpendicular to thehorizontal semiconductor regions 210, are used to connect a voltagesource or ground to the p-type and n-type semiconductor regions 210.Horizontal metal connectors (not shown), which are disposed directlyover the top of each semiconductor region 210, are used to distributevoltage or ground connections from the rails 212 to the p-type andn-type semiconductor regions 210.

By reverse biasing the p-type and n-type semiconductor regions 210 inthe spatial separation region 103, the effects of noise and crosstalkfrom the transmit region 101 to the receive region 102 can be furtherreduced. This is accomplished by “tapping”, i.e., providing a connectionbetween a p/n-type region 210 and a rail 212 in a specific pattern so asto create several reverse-biased areas that disrupt current flow whichmay couple noise and crosstalk between the receive and transmit halvesof the chip. These taps effectively form reverse biased diodes that areparallel to the center region 200 between the transmit region 101 andthe receive region 102 of the integrated circuit 100. Thus, straycarriers caused by noise and crosstalk are far more likely to beattracted to the reverse-biased pn-junctions before traversing the widthof the spatial separation region 103.

In one embodiment, the p-type regions 250 on the receiver side 202 ofthe spatial separation region 200 are connected to the rails 251 thatare connected to a ground. Typically, the ground is one of the groundssupplying components in the receiver region 102, such as GND_(RA) 146.These connections are denoted by the coupling vias 252. Further, then-type regions 253 on the receiver side 202 of the spatial separationregion 200 are connected to the rails 254 that are connected to avoltage source. Typically, the voltage source is one of the voltagesources connected to components in the receiver region 102, such asVDD_(RA) 145. These connections are denoted by the coupling vias 255shown in FIG. 2. By providing connections as described above, thejunctions between the p-type regions 250 and the n-type regions 253 arereverse biased such that noise and crosstalk are disrupted across thispart of the spatial separation region 200.

In a similar way, on the transmit side 201 of the spatial separationregion 200, the p-type regions 263 are connected to the rails 261 thatare connected to a ground. Typically, the ground is one of the groundsconnected to components in the transmit region 101, such as GND_(TA)126. These connections are denoted by the coupling vias 262. Further,the n-type regions 260 on the transmit side 201 of the spatialseparation region 200 are connected to the rails 264 that are connectedto a voltage source. Typically, the voltage source is one of the voltagesources supplying components in the transmit region 101, such asVDD_(TA) 125. These connections are denoted by the coupling vias 265.Again, by providing connections as described above, the p-type regions263 and the n-type regions 260 are reverse biased such that noise andcrosstalk are disrupted across this part of the spatial separationregion 200.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a fiber-optic communication module 300 thatincorporates the integrated circuit 100 of FIG. 1 in accordance with anembodiment of the invention. The module 300 houses several of theabove-mentioned off-chip components. For example, the power supplyVDD_(TA) 301 and GND_(TA) 302 are coupled to the pads for VDD_(TA) 125and GND_(TA) 126 of the integrated circuit 100. Similarly, VDD_(TB) 303and GND_(TB) 304, VDD_(RA) 305 and GND_(RA) 306, and VDD_(RB) 307 andGND_(RB) 308 are also coupled to the respective pads for thecorresponding internal power and ground traces of the integrated circuit100. Each voltage supply typically is nominally rated at 3.3 Volts andthe four grounds may or may not be grounded to the same ground plane. Inaddition, the actual voltage supplies 301, 303, 305, and 307 are spacedfrom one another so as to further reduce any inductive or capacitivecoupling between the supply or ground lines.

Additionally, another technique is used to reduce the effects of noiseand crosstalk on the sensitive portions of the integrated circuit 100.Each voltage supply 301, 303, 305, and 307 has an associated respectivebypass filter 311, 313, 115, and 317. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3,each bypass filter comprises an RC circuit having a capacitor and aresistor (neither shown) in series shunting the power supply and ground.The capacitor in one embodiment is 100 nF and the resistor in oneembodiment is 10 ohms. In another embodiment not shown, each capacitoris disposed on the integrated circuit 100 and a series resistor iscoupled between the capacitor and the bond wire that connects theintegrated circuit 100 power pad to each respective voltage supply. Theresistor reduces ringing of the RLC circuits formed by the bond wiresand the bypass capacitors.

The module 300 also comprises input signal paths 351 and output signalpaths 352. The configuration of the module is not limited to thearrangement of FIG. 3 and can be arranged in any suitable fashion tointerface with other communication devices. One such configuration ofthe module 300 is suitable to interface with a communication deviceusing a 9×9 Ball Grid Array footprint.

Another component disposed in the module 300 is an EEPROM chip 340 thatis typically used to store performance parameters of the integratedcircuit and other digital information. The EEPROM chip 340 is coupled tothe digital logic block 115 of the integrated circuit 100 in oneembodiment through a standard serial I/O connection 341. The digitallogic block 115 communicates with various components of the integratedcircuit through an 8-bit digital bus 116 (FIG. 1). Digital communicationand logic are well known in the art, thus the following features thatmay be incorporated in the module 300 are briefly described herein. Amore detailed description of each of these features is described in U.S.patent application Ser. No. 09/735,315 filed on Dec. 12, 2000, andassigned to the Agilent Technologies Corporation, located in Palo Alto,Calif., and is incorporated by reference.

One feature that the digital logic block 115 provides is that itincludes a state machine (not shown) that is operable to load operatingparameters for both the receiver channels and transmitter channels fromthe EEPROM chip 340. The EEPROM is typically programmed by themanufacturer, and upon initialization of the integrated circuit 100, thestate machine downloads the parameters from the EEPROM chip 340 intointernal RAM registers (not shown) on the integrated circuit 100.However, although the end-user typically does not reprogram the EEPROM340, the manufacturer may provide access to allow the end-user toreprogram the EEPROM chip 340. Furthermore, the end user may be allowedto read and write these RAM registers on the integrated circuit 100 viathe serial I/O interface 341 that is part of the integrated circuit 100.

Another feature included in the digital logic block 115 is a counter(not shown) that continuously updates a register that holds the totalpower-on hours of the integrated circuit 100, i.e., how many hours thechip has operated. To prevent accidental loss of this data, the data isstored in a triple redundant fashion, i.e., in three registers (notshown). Therefore, if a user is reading the register or accidentallywrites one of the registers, the other registers will store the correctvalue. At power-up, when the power-on hours may be retrieved forpurposes discussed below, a circuit implements a conventional votingfunction to determine the value that the majority of registers areholding, and accepts this value as the power-on hours value. Thepower-on hours value can be used simply to determine the operating ageof the integrated circuit 100, or is more typically used to adjust theoperating parameters of the circuit or the laser, which may be externalto the integrated circuit 100. For example, as the laser ages, itscurrent to light transfer curve may shift, and thus one can adjust thedrive current to maintain the desired optical power out.

Another feature connected to the digital logic block 115 is a power-onreset which, like conventional power-on resets, generates a reset pulseto hold the integrated circuit 100 in a reset state until one or more ofthe VDD values exceeds a predetermined threshold.

The digital logic block 115 further receives an input from an on-chiptemperature sensor (not shown). This temperature sensor comprises ananalog output that is connected to an analog-to-digital converter (notshown) to convert the analog voltage from the temperature sensor into adigital value that can be sent to the digital logic block 115. Thedigital value is stored in memory and monitored periodically by thedigital logic block 115 and can be used to change the characteristics ofeither the receiver channels or the transmitter channels based on thetemperature. For example, one can compare the temperature to a maximumtemperature and/or a minimum temperature and if the actual temperatureis above the maximum temperature or below the minimum temperature, thedigital logic block 115 can set a bit that will shut down a laser driver121 (FIG. 1). Alternatively, the digital logic block 115 can just set afault bit that one can monitor externally through the serial bus 341 todetect any type of over or under temperature condition. This temperatureinformation can also be used to adjust the driving characteristics ofthe laser. Although the temperature sensor measures the temperature ofthe chip itself, and not the laser, the laser and chip are close enoughtogether that the temperature of the chip gives a good indication of thetemperature of the laser, and is typically within 5° (or 10°) C. of thetemperature of the laser.

Similarly, there can be an internal (to the integrated circuit 100)sense resistor (not shown) in series with the laser. The integratedcircuit 100 monitors the voltage across the resistor to measure thecurrent through the laser (not shown) and to set a fault bit if there isan over current condition or to automatically shut down thecorresponding laser driver 121 if there is an over current condition.

The digital logic block 115 may further include error detection(typically using parity), which detects any errors in the data that isdownloaded from the EEPROM chip 340. If the error-detection circuitdetects a data error, it sets a flag and can prevent the correspondinglaser (not shown) from operating. This prevents an erroneous value, suchas for the laser drive signal, from being set to a level that couldcause damage to the laser or injury to an operator.

The digital logic block 115 may also include an input from a receiverinput-signal detector. In one type of signal detector, circuitrycompares the peak and average of the input signal (on pads 142 ofFIG. 1) to generate an amplitude value and compares the amplitude to athreshold. If the amplitude is less than the threshold, then it isdetermined that no signal is being input to the receiver. Inconventional circuits, the detector would put a logic detect/no-detectsignal directly on an external pin of the receiver chip, which externalcircuitry could monitor. However, because this multi-channeltransmitter/receiver has a serial interface for the digital circuitry,the signal-detector may connect to the digital logic block 115 whichsets a bit in a register (not shown) that is read by external circuitryvia the serial interface 341. This eliminates the need for additionalpins on the integrated circuit 100.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a digital communication system 400 thatincorporates the fiber-optic module 300 of FIG. 3 in accordance with anembodiment of the invention. The system 400 comprises devices operableto communicate digitally with each other. Such devices includehigh-volume database computers 405, server computers 407, and networkdevices 409 (hubs, routers, switches). A conventional TX/RX link 403couples the devices to a communication hub 401 that is operable to houseseveral fiber-optic modules 300.

In this application, the module 300 is designed to perform optimally atdata rates of approximately 1 to 3.2 gigabits per second (Gb/s), atdistances of 300 meters or less. The module 300 is a high performancefiber-optic module for parallel optical data communication applications.The fiber-optic module 300 incorporates eight independent data channels(four transmit and four receive channels) operating from 1 to 3.2 Gb/sper channel for digital communication between devices. The module 300can then communicate with other modules through a fiber-opticcommunication link 402. As such, devices such as high-volume databasecomputers 405, server computers 407, and network devices 409 (hubs,routers, switches) can communicate efficiently and effectively using themultichannel capabilities of the fiber-optic module 300.

1. An integrated circuit cast on a single die, comprising: a pluralityof receivers in a receiver region; a plurality of transmitters in atransmitter region; and a spatial separation region having a pluralityof n-type and p-type subregions and operable to electrically isolate thetransmitter region from the receiver region, wherein the plurality ofp-type and n-type semiconductor regions are disposed on the single diein alternating horizontal rows.
 2. The integrated circuit of claim 1,the plurality of receivers each comprise: an amplifier operable toamplify a signal from a photo detector; a buffer coupled to theamplifier and operable to process the amplified signal; and anelectrical driver coupled to the buffer and operable to drive theprocessed signal.
 3. The integrated circuit of claim 2 wherein theamplifier is coupled to a first voltage supply and a first ground andthe buffer and electrical driver are coupled to a second voltage supplyand a second ground.
 4. The integrated circuit of claim 1 wherein theplurality of transmitters each comprise: a driver operable to generatean analog signal for driving a light emitting source; and a buffercoupled to an input node of driver.
 5. The integrated circuit of claim 4wherein the light emitting source driver is coupled to a first voltagesupply and a first ground and the buffer is coupled to a second voltagesupply and a second ground.
 6. The integrated circuit of claim 4 whereinthe light-emitting source comprises a laser.
 7. The integrated circuitof claim 4 wherein the light-emitting source comprises a light-emittingdiode.
 8. The integrated circuit of claim 1, further comprising undopedsemiconductor regions respectively disposed between the plurality ofp-type and n-type semiconductor regions.
 9. The integrated circuit ofclaim 1 wherein the spatial separation region further comprises anundoped center region that is not a p-type or n-type semiconductorregion disposed substantially equidistant from the transmitter regionand the receiver region.
 10. The integrated circuit of claim 9 whereinthe horizontal row semiconductor region contiguous to the center regionin the transmitter region is a p-type semiconductor region.
 11. Theintegrated circuit of claim 9 wherein the horizontal row semiconductorcontiguous to the center region in the receiver region is a p-typesemiconductor region.
 12. The integrated circuit of claim 1 wherein theplurality of p-type subregions are biased to a ground node.
 13. Theintegrated circuit of claim 12, wherein the ground node is coupled onlyto components in the transmitter region.
 14. The integrated circuit ofclaim 12, wherein the ground is coupled only to components in thereceiver region.
 15. The integrated circuit of claim 1 wherein theplurality of n-type subregions are biased to a voltage supply node. 16.The integrated circuit of claim 15, wherein the voltage supply node iscoupled only to components in the transmitter region.
 17. The integratedcircuit of claim 15, wherein the voltage supply node is coupled only tocomponents in the receiver region.
 18. The integrated circuit of claim1, further comprising respective guard rings surrounding eachtransmitter and each receiver.
 19. An integrated circuit cast on asingle die, comprising: a plurality of receivers in a receiver region; aplurality of transmitters in a transmitter region; and a spatialseparation region having a plurality of n-type and p-type subregions andoperable to electrically isolate the transmitter region from thereceiver region, wherein the plurality of n-type and p-typesemiconductor subregions are configured in alternating horizontal rows.20. The integrated circuit of claim 19 wherein the transmitting regioncomprises four transmitters.
 21. The integrated circuit of claim 19wherein the receiving region comprises four receivers.
 22. Theintegrated circuit of claim 19 wherein the plurality of transmitters arecoupled to a first voltage source and a first ground and the pluralityof receivers are coupled to a second voltage source and a second ground.23. The integrated circuit of claim 19, further comprising a digitalcircuit coupled to each receiver and transmitter.
 24. The integratedcircuit of claim 23 wherein the digital circuit is operable to storeoperating parameters for the plurality of transmitters and for theplurality of receivers, the digital circuit operable to download theoperating parameters when the integrated circuit is initialized.
 25. Theintegrated circuit of claim 23 wherein the digital circuit is operableto count track the amount of time that the integrated circuit isoperating.
 26. The integrated circuit of claim 23 wherein the digitalcircuit is operable to generate a power-on-reset signal when theintegrated circuit is initialized, the power-on-reset signal disablingthe plurality of transmitters and receivers until a voltage sourceexceeds a predetermined threshold.
 27. The integrated circuit of claim23 wherein the digital circuit is operable to detect and digitally storea temperature of the integrated circuit and to alter the performance ofthe plurality of transmitters and receivers in response to thetemperature.
 28. The integrated circuit of claim 23 wherein the digitalcircuit is operable to detect the current through each of the pluralityof transmitters and to disable to the transmitter if the respectivecurrent exceeds a predetermined threshold.
 29. The integrated circuit ofclaim 23 wherein the digital circuit is operable to detect errors indata that is received from an external source.
 30. The integratedcircuit of claim 23 wherein the digital circuit is operable to detectwhether a signal is being received by one of the plurality of receivers.31. The integrated circuit of claim 23 wherein the digital circuit isoperable to detect the power output of each of the plurality oftransmitters and to disable a transmitter if the respective power outputexceeds a predetermined threshold.
 32. The communication modulecomprising: a transceiver chip cast on a single die including; aplurality of receivers in a receiver region; a plurality of transmittersin a transmitter region; an isolation region having a plurality ofn-type and p-type subregions and operable to electrically isolate thetransmitter region from the receiver region; a first receiver voltagesource and first receiver ground coupled to each amplifier of eachreceiver; a second receiver voltage source and second receiver groundcoupled to each buffer and electrical driver of each receiver; a firsttransmitter voltage source and first transmitter ground coupled to eachlaser driver of each transmitter; a second transmitter voltage sourceand second transmitter ground coupled to each buffer of eachtransmitter; and a supply bypass filter disposed in the module betweeneach voltage source and the transceiver chip.
 33. The communicationmodule of claim 32 wherein each bypass filter is disposed on thetransceiver chip.